Legends in the Making
by Master Hellsing
Summary: Not so much blasphemy XD This time around, it's a short fic about the night Arthur fell ill. This may become multichapter.


**Title**: Legends in the Making  
**Author**: Master Hellsing  
**Warnings**: None that I can think of right now. Maybe for future chapters.  
**Rating**: More than likely PG-13 for situations.  
**Disclaimer**: I don't own Hellsing. I couldn't come up with something that complex for a box of Cheerios (wow, unintentional British pun XD). That honor belongs to Kouta Hirano, the lucky duck.  
**Pairings**: None this time around. If anything it may develop into Alucard/Integra fascination, should I decide to pick this one up again.  
**Author's Notes**: I've always wanted to explore the progression of Arthur's illness and Integra's reactions to it. The foreshadowing (quite literally) of Alucard and the interaction of Richard (who'll probably end up coming in later) with the rest of the Hellsing family during this time are also things that I'd like to take time to analyze in my own way. I'll probably end up taking liberties here and there, but I do my best to stay mildly realistic.

My interpretations of Alucard and Integra's relationship are just that -- interpretations. I'll do my best to draw a middle ground between the more widely-accepted versions and my own versions, but trust me when I say that anything that seems "OOC" was probably meant that way n.-

Now, onto the fic! This is just Chapter 1, but hopefully I'll pick this up again someday. Please enjoy!

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It was close to 4:30am when the sound of sirens and loud, urgent voices disrupted Integra's sleep. Quickly, she found her glasses and ran out the door in her nightgown, stopping Walter who had just run by.

"Walter! What's happening?" she asked, obviously scared.

Walter turned around quickly when he heard her voice. "Miss Integra..! It's..." he began. His gaze drifted behind him to see the EMT crew hurrying to Arthur's room before they returned to meet those of the frightened child. Walking to her, he knealt to her eye level. "Please, go back to sleep. It's much too early for you to be awake."

Integra was suspicious. She couldn't sleep with all that commotion. Something pretty big had to have happened to cause such a stir. It was then that she caught something out of the corner of her eye. Leaning to one side so that she could see over Walter's shoulder, her eyes widened as she saw her father being carried out on a stretcher.

"Father!" she screamed, starting to rush forward before Walter caught her. "Integra! Integra, calm down!"

"What's going on, Walter? I demand to know this very _instant_!" she commanded, "What happened to my Father!"

Walter's lips pursed in defeat. Taking her back to arm's length and holding her there, he secured eye contact with the frightened child. "Integra, please. Listen, your father..." he started, trying to find the words. "Your father is sick. He needs to spend somet time at the hospital."

Her heart shattered. She felt absolutely sick. However, a child's mind was always full of the purest optimism. "But...he's going to be alright...right? I mean...I get sick all the time and I'm okay!"

It was that optimism that broke Walter's heart completely right then. He loved Integra like his own daughter and it destroyed him to have to tell her this. "It's...a little different..." he said. As he spoke those words, he couldn't keep eye contact. He couldn't watch her expression from what he was going to say next. "Integra...it doesn't look good."

The child took a moment to take that in before the involuntary tears started to fall. "Walter...?" she asked, her voice shaky.

"Yes, Miss Integra." he replied, finally looking at her again.

"I want...I want to see my Father." In her voice, he could tell she was scared. But at the same time, she had her father's determination.

"Miss Integra!" he exclaimed. He was absolutely _vehement_ about not letting her go through that kind of torture. To watch her father's health deteriorate before her eyes...he simply wouldn't consent to her feeling that kind of pain.

"Walter. Please. If you never do anything for me again, please...let me have this. I need to see my Father..."

"I...I'm sorry, Miss Integra. I can't allow that."

"You know I'll see him either way. You can either take me to go see him now, or go against _direct_ orders from a member of the Hellsing family and wait here while I walk there. What will your choice be, Walter?"

It was apparent to him in that moment exactly how much like her father she was.

Hanging his head in defeat, he gave a barely-there laugh. "You're just like him, you know.," he said quietly. That seemed to make her smile.

"Alright..." he finally said, standing and offering his hand to her. "I'll take you to see him. But if anybody asks, it was your idea."

The child grasped his hand tightly and nodded. "Thank you, Walter..."

"Oh, I'm not happy about doing this.," he stated firmly, "I don't want you to see him like this. But, I know by now that a fight with a Hellsing is entirely pointless."

She simply nodded. "Still...thank you..." she said softly as they began to walk.

"Of course, Miss Integra...and if you want to come back home at any point, you let me know, alright?"

"I will..."

As their voices faded down the hallway, their place was marked only by a memory and a small puddle of her tears that had fallen in the shadow of the hallway. Inside that puddle, a few eyes opened up in the darkness.

It was only a matter of time now.


End file.
